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Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment
Minor: Torture
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia
We must all find pointless causes to live for, or why bother with breath?
Sri Lankan war photographer and playboy Maali Almeida wakes up dead. He doesn't remember how or where he died, but he does remember that he left behind a box of his photographs that can change the world. As a ghost, Maali resolves to find a way to publish the photos with the help of his lover and his best friend, over the course of his allotted seven days before crossing into the Light.
I picked this book because I wanted something different, and indeed it is something different. Is historical magical realism a thing? If so, this is it. I admit that I was confused for most of the book, though most of that is due to my lack of knowledge about this aspect of history. But regardless of my ignorance of the atrocities, events, and major players of the Sri Lankan civil war, I was sucked into Maali's story and the fate of both his photographs and his friends. The overall tone of the book is despairing and nihilistic, and yet there are beautiful moments too.
I do recommend this book if it sounds intriguing to you, but I recommend taking a few minutes to skim the Wikipedia entry on the Sri Lankan civil war first.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Murder, War
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Suicide
-.5 as I often found bits hard to follow and I often had to re-read sections and trace names back.
Graphic: Death, Violence, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Torture
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Colonisation
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
The chaotic structure of the writing draws you in to the chaos of the forces driving the civil war. The chaos continues after death without missing a beat.
Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Drug use, Genocide, Infidelity, Suicide, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War
The best way of describing it is that genre of book where someone in the main character's life has just died, leaving behind a tangled web of mystery for the MC to unravel and resolve ... from the dead person's point of view.
The author does an amazing job painting the political landscape of Sri Lankan politics in the 70s-90s in all of its complexity and using it as a vehicle to reveal the story as opposed to allowing it to bog the story down. The main character is jaded and unlikeable, but the slow reveal throughout the book of what leads him to be like that and the dynamics involved was really impressively handled. I really loved the ending and the way that the author doesn't pretend to try to fix everything.
I read this book because a friend of a friend told me that her book club had read it and that everyone but her had said that, while they liked it, they would not recommend it as a book club book, a sentiment that she had disagreed with. Having now read it, I have to agree with my friend's friend: if these aren't the topics we discuss in a book club, then what are?
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Car accident, Murder, War
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Torture, Death of parent